Apparatus for feeding separate sheets of paper to printing-presses.



PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

J. W. HOAG.

APPARATUS FOR- FEEDING SEPARATE SHEETS OF PAPER TO PRINTING I PRESSBS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 15, 1903. NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

" IIIII 'H No. 769,747. PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904.

J. W. HOAG.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING SEPARATE SHEETS OF PAPER TO PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.15,1903. NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 769,747. PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904 J. W. HOAG. APPARATUS FOR FEEDING SEPARATE SHEETS OP PAPER TO PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 15, 1903. no MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET a.

W-lllHIllllflilllh- UNITED STATES Patented September 13, 1904.

PATENT OEEicE.

JAMES WV. HOAG, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 7 69,747, dated. September 13, 1904.

Application filed December 15, 1903. Serial No. 185,262. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES IV. How, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Apparatus for Feeding Separate Sheets of Paper to a Printing-Press, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements made in devices or apparatus for feeding separate sheets of paper to a printing-press.

The object of the invention is chiefly the production of a feeding apparatus applicable to printing-presses of the traveling-cylinder type in which the impressioncylinder has rectilinear movement over the form of type, which remains stationary during the printing operation; but the improvements will be found adapted as well within the scope of the invention to other styles of printing-presses and that without requiring any changes in the construction and arrangement of the parts and mechanism other than those which the mechanic skilled in the construction and operation of printing-presses will be able to make without further explanation.

Briefly stated, the invention embraces an intermittently-reciprocating feed-table having alternately advancing and receding movement with relation to the impression-roller of the press and on which the sheets to be fed to the roller are laid in a pile and a rotatable support-for the leading edge of the pile stationary as to position under the reciprocating feed-table and normally supporting the leading edge of the lowermost sheet in the pile, in combination with means for exhausting the air from under the edge of the lowermost sheet in such manner that the sheet will be temporarily attached by atmospheric pressure to said support and means operating in the advancing movement of the feed-table to separate the attached sheet from the overlying sheet in the pile and to guide it into the gripping mechanism of the impression-cylinder.

The invention includes also a feed-table having intermittent advancing and receding movement on which the sheets are laid in a pile, in combination with a rotatable support carrying -in place on the feed-table.

the leading end of the pile, and means for exhausting the air from beneath the edge of the lowermost sheet in such manner that the sheet will be temporarily attached to the said support by atmospheric pressure, and by the retation of the support it will be partially separated from the adjacent sheet in the pile, and means for moving the lowermost sheet and the superposed pile of sheets in opposite directions and generally perpendicular to the plane of the advancing movement of the table.

The invention includes also certain novel construction and combination of parts and mechanism producing an improved automatic feeder in which the lowermost sheet is separated from the next sheet in the pile by the advancing movement of the feed-table and the combined action of separating devices that operate to lift the pile of sheets and defleet the lowermost sheet below the plane of the feed-table.

The followingdescription explains at length the nature of the said improvements and the manner in which I proceed to produce, apply, and carry out the same, the accompanying drawings being referred to therein by figures and letters.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a side elevation of an automatic feeding apparatus embodying my invention, representing the same as I have applied it to a printing-press of the travelingcylinder type. The figure shows the position of the parts at the moment when the edge of the sheet has been seized by the grippers and the cylinder is about to return over the formcarrying bed. Those parts of the printing mechanism and the frame of the press which are not necessary to a clear understanding of the invention are omitted from the figure. Fig. 9. is a plan or top view of the feed-table and associated parts of the feeder, showing the same in their initial position, but with the pile of sheets removed to expose underlying parts. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the line 3 3, Fig. 2, but with the pile of sheets Fig. L is a detail, on an enlarged scale, of the roller that forms the front support of the pile of sheets, showing the same partly in longitudinal section. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5 5, Fig. 4.

1 plane.

The principal elements or features of this feeding apparatus consist of the intermittently-reciprocating feed-table 0, having alternately advancing and receding movements, a support for the front or leading end of the sheets comprising a roller 20 having intermittent movement-on its axis alternately forward and back and provided with a cavity, a suction device, such as an air-exhausting cylinder 25, and a conductor 26, connecting the exhaust-side of the cylinder 25 with the cavity 22 in the roller 20. Stationary guides 30 on the discharge side of the feeder separate the lowermost sheet of the pile both from the roller and from the pile itself and guide the edge of the separated sheet into the grippers of the impression-cylinder in the advancing movement of the table. These parts are arranged for operation and are actuated from the principal shaft 6 or some other moving part of the printing-press to work in time with the movements of the impression-cylinder substantially as follows: The feed-table a, slidable in stationary supports 2 2, is connected by a rod 5 with one end of a lever 1 of the third order, to which movement is given from the crank-shaft 6 of the press through the medium of the eccentric f on the shaft 6, the strap 8 of the eccentric being attached at a point 9 above the fulcrum, which is situated on the frame'below the eccentric. Provision is made for shifting the point of attachment of the lever to the feed-table to properly time the movement of the table. For that purpose the end of the connecting-rod 5 is passed through an eye 10 on the end of the lever 4:, and the rod is screw-threaded for nuts 12, between which the end of the lever is clamped. The feed-table is provided with a standing front board, which may be and generally is a stationary part of the table, and at a distance back of the front board 1 1 a movable back board is held in place on the table by a clamping means, such as a screw-clamp 16, taking through a slot in the tailpiece 17 of the board into the bottom board underneath. Between these two standing members 14 and 15 the bottom of the table is cut away or omitted, so as to leave a space that is open to the parts of'the press beneath, and over this opening and between the two standing boards aforesaid the sheets of paper to be fed to the printing mechanism are laid flatly in a pile, with their rear edges evenly and closely set against the back board 15. The last-mentioned board is set back of the front edge of the bottom board a proper distance to leave a sufficient support under the back end of the pile of sheets. The front end of the sheets is carried by a rotatable support consisting of a roller 20, situated below the plane of the feed-table a and with its top face about tangent to such A narrow slit 21 in the periphery of the roller communicates, through an aperture 23, with a cavity 22 in the body, and a conpart to be properly operated in time with the other parts of the feeding mechanism a sufficient degree of exhaust tension or suction is set up in the cavity and the communicating slit before mentioned to exhaust the air below the overlying sheet and within the slit 21. The effect of this is to cause the lowermost sheet to adhere or become"att'ached""to the periphery of the roller by atmospheric pressure whenever the slit 21 is brought in position directly under the sheet and to a sufficient degree to draw down the leading edge of the sheet-and separate it from the overlying sheet in the pile. This separation is facilitated also by a rotating movement given to the roller 20 and by the suction being maintained beneath the sheet while the roller is turning. The exhaust side of the pump 25 is connected with the hollow journal of the roller 20 by a flexible tube 26 to permit the roller 20 to rotate, and the plunger 27 of the pump 25 is connected to a crank-pin 0n the shaft 6 of the press by a connecting-rod 28. The movements of the partsthat is, the plunger 27 of the pump 25, the rotatable support or roller 20, and the reciprocating feed-table a are so timed with relation to one another that as the feed-table a begins its advancing movement and is directly under the leading edge of the lowermost sheet the plunger has set up a sufiicient degree of exhaust in the cavity 22 to draw the sheet to the roller.

By the advancing movement of the feedtable and the rotation of the roller toward the printing mechanism the front portion of the attached sheet is separated from the sheet next to it and being diverted from the plane of movement of the table is moved toward the impression-roller, in which movement the separation of the leading edge of the sheet is insured by a stationary stripper-plate 30, located in front of the roller 20 or between it and the impression roller. In connection with a set of stationary fingers 30, arranged above it, this stripper-plate also serves as a guide to direct the leading edge of the sheet into the grippers of the impression-cylinder as the pile of sheets is carried forward by the feed-table a. These parts are secured to a support on the frame of the press consisting of stationary top and bottom rails 31in front of the rollers, the top one of-these rails being set above the bottom one to give room for the guides 3O 30. The top rail also furnishes a support for a set of curved fingers 32, located in front of the roller 20 and having an inclination upward from the plane in which the table moves. The function of these fingers is to raise the end of the pile and carry it away from the lowermost sheet as the end of that sheet is drawn away from the pile by the roller 20, and for that purpose the fingers have an upward curve or inclination at an angle to the direction of the advancing movement, and the standing front board 1 1 of the feed-table a is provided with openings to clear these guides.

By virtue of this construction and arrangement of parts the pile of sheets and the lowermost sheet are carried away from the plane in which the table reciprocates, the one above and the other beneath, from the moment the leading edge of the sheet is attached to the roller until the table completes its forward throw. The eifect of diverting the pile and the sheet being fed in this manner is to insure the separation of the sheets regardless of their thickness or stifl'ness, on which account this device is particularly adapted for l1andling thin and flexible sheets.

The movements of the roller 20 in time with the feed-table are obtained by means of the racks 34:, carried by the table, and spur-pinions on the ends of roller 20. This is a simple and direct way of rotating the roller; but it will be obvious that the required motion to be given the roller could be applied from some other moving part of the press and still be within the scope of my invention.

Thin paper in apile, as illustrated in drawings herewith, is liable to have its lowermost sheet moved out of register by the friction of a roller turning always in one direction, especially if said roller is used as a support for the leading edge of said pile, as in my invention. I therefore give roller 20 an alternatingly-rotating movement, so that on the backward movement of said feed-table the roller will be moving in a corresponding direction with the said feed-table. Moreover, thin paper arranged as illustrated requires a support for its leading edge, which thick paper may be rigid enough to do without. Therefore I make my roller 20 both a support and a means of carrying away the lowermost sheet.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device for feeding sheets of paper, a reciprocating feed-table adapted to support one end of a pile of sheets, an alternatinglyrotatable roller to support the opposite end of the pile, a slit in the roller extending partly across the sheet, means for exhausting the air from said slit, a stripping device operating to detach the sheet from said roller in the rotation of the latter, and means for simultaneously reciprocating the table and alternatingly rotating the roller in correspondence with Said reciprocating movements.

2. In a device for feeding separate sheets of paper, a reciprocating feed-table, an alternatingly-rotatable roller supporting and carrying the leading end of the pile of sheets, a slit in said roller extending across said pile, means of exhausting the air from said slit, means of separating the edge of the sheet from the roller in the rotation of the latter, and for divergingly guiding the sheet after its separation, and means for raising the leading end of the pile off the attached sheet.

In witness whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES IV. HOAG.

\Vitn esses:

JULIUs CALMANN, ELIAS Cook. 

